Recognition of same-sex unions in Belarus

Belarus does not recognise same-sex registered partnerships (Belarusian: грамадзянскае партнёрства,^[1] hramadzjánskaje partnjórstva, pronounced [ɣramaˈdzʲanska.je partˈnʲɔrstva]; Russian: гражданское партнёрство,^[2] graždánskoje partnjórstvo, pronounced [ɡrɐʐˈdanskə.jə pɐrtˈnʲɵrstvə]) which would offer some of the rights and benefits of marriage.^[3] Belarus is not a member state of the Council of Europe and thus does not fall under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In January 2023, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights ruled in Fedotova and Others v. Russia that Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees a right to private and family life, imposes a positive obligation on all member states of the Council of Europe to recognize same-sex partnerships.^[4] The court later issued similar rulings with respect to Poland in Przybyszewska and Others, Romania in Buhuceanu and Others, Bulgaria in Koilova and Babulkova, and Ukraine in Maymulakhin and Markiv.

The laws of Belarus do not allow or recognise same-sex marriage. Article 32 of the Constitution of Belarus, adopted in 1994, three years after independence from the Soviet Union, states:^[5][6][7]

Marriage as the union of a woman and a man, the family, maternity, paternity and childhood shall be protected by the State. A woman and a man, on reaching marriageable age, have the right to marry voluntarily and to create a family. Spouses have equal rights in marriage and family.

The Marriage and Family Code (Belarusian: Кодэкс аб шлюбе і сям'і, Kódeks ab šljúbje i sjamʺí; Russian: Кодекс о браке и семье, Kódeks o bráke i semʹjé) likewise bans the recognition of same-sex marriage.^[8] In April 2013, President Alexander Lukashenko said in his state-of-the-nation address that "we should not be forced to introduce same-sex marriages. This will not happen in the near future. That is for sure, when I am the president."^[9] In 2023, the National Assembly passed a motion "emphasising the protection and promotion of the traditional family, defined strictly as a union between a woman and a man by birth".^[10]